Unexplained fatigue and weight gain are so common among American women today but few realize that the prescription drugs they take may actually be causing their problems.

Many women are not aware that the birth control pills they take to prevent pregnancy and the estrogen they have been prescribed to alleviate symptoms of perimenopause and menopause suppress their thyroid function.

I often refer my clients back to their medical doctors to discuss these issues.

If you are taking birth control pills or prescription estrogen and find yourself feeling cold and exhausted and gaining weight, here are 10 ways you can take back control of your health:

Talk to your medical doctor about how your medications may be affecting your thyroid. If you are on estrogen therapy and your need for thyroid medication keeps increasing, your menopause drugs could be the problem.

Ask your doctor about ways you can prevent unwanted pregnancy that do not affect your hormones.

Look up the side effects of all your medications. Visit www.rxlist.com. If you are on multiple medications, learn the latest research about how all your drugs interact by visiting ww.epocrates.com. You can’t assume that you know all the possible ways that your drugs affect your body – you have to look it up.

Ask yourself whether or not the drugs you take actually make you feel better. Because every hormone you take affects every other hormone, maintaining hormonal balance is a tricky business. If you are not taking hormones yet but searching for ways to alleviate your menopausal symptoms, consider natural alternatives. As you learn to address your symptoms naturally, your energy returns, you stop feeling so cold all the time and your weight normalizes.

Taking control of your health by learning how to address your symptoms naturally can often bring relief where your prescription medications have failed you.

Frankly, the lack of understanding of the complex interactions between your stress hormones, thyroid function and female hormones is part of why most conventional diets don’t work and why most nutritionists or personal fitness trainers have no real clue how to help you lose weight.

You can’t simply starve or over exercise your way out of hormonal imbalance and get thinner.

To learn more about how to get your energy back, heal your metabolism and lose weight naturally, set up an appointment with me today by emailing catherine@unlimitedenergynow.com or calling 678-612-8816.